Looking only at the result, the situation ended anticlimactically.
If one were to argue right and wrong, it would be endless, and according to the knight's code, either the vice-commander should die or the one who ran his mouth off should die, and the Count's family would never let that slide.
Even if Ihan wanted to go on a rampage, as someone who had just taken on the instructor position, there was a line he had to keep.
Truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, the incident somehow came to a close.
With nothing actually resolved.
And there was someone who found this neither-here-nor-there state deeply displeasing.
None other than.
"-You certainly made a spectacle of yourself."
Isis set down the newspaper and lightly moistened her throat with a chilled beverage.
A picture-like appearance.
Anyone seeing her might think she was shooting a pictorial, but that was just her everyday life.
She was undeniably a woman whose daily life was a pictorial.
However, those who knew her well would notice the slight displeasure within those pictorial-like gestures.
"...Don't be too hard on me. I already got scolded by the Dean as it is."
And the man sitting across from her, subtly turning his head and making excuses that weren't really excuses.
Ihan, who occupied the front page of today's newspaper, drank his beverage as if his insides were burning.
"Hoho, Sir Ihan's presence is truly impressive."
"Yes, so cool!"
Meanwhile, Albert and Leira, seemingly unaware of Ihan's feelings, kept their eyes shining as they looked at the photo in the newspaper, and Ihan's bitter smile only grew longer.
Anyway, this world was a medieval world yet strangely had many elements of advanced technology.
The camera was one such thing.
'When did this get taken?'
Those barbaric medieval journalists, they treat portrait rights like absolute trash.
...Makes me want to smash them all.
* * *
[Shocking Incident, Violence at the Royal Academy?!]
[Is the Count's Family Turning Against the Royal Family?]
[Could This Be a Message from the Abandoned Lion to the White Silver Lion-]
Riiip!
"Look at these bastards?"
About half of the newspaper's content was insulting Ihan, consistently belittling him.
Among them were many things too vulgar to even mention.
It seemed they had agreed to belittle him because touching the Count would have frightening consequences.
...Bastards.
"Hoho, if Sir Ihan's reputation had been made known a little, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened. That part is a bit regrettable."
"It's not like I intentionally controlled it. They misunderstand on their own and don't believe the information, what can I do?"
"That's also true."
Someone might find this strange.
Although Ihan was of commoner birth. He was 'nevertheless' a war veteran, and a talent who had even entered the knight order as a commoner.
Most importantly, a knight personally selected by 'that' Baltar Grace.
This alone made him already a considerable talent, and he should have been in a position not to be touched carelessly.
Yet the journalists, no, not just journalists but even others took him lightly—it was a completely absurd situation.
But unfortunately, people didn't know of these 'achievements' of Ihan.
The reason was none other than.
"They don't believe it. The majority deny the very existence of Sir Ihan."
Surprisingly, this country didn't believe any of the things Ihan had done.
No, it would be more accurate to say they denied it.
The fact that he was a war veteran?
Just soldier number one who participated in the war and luckily survived.
The fact that he was a knight personally selected by Baltar Grace?
The upper echelons of the royal family had prevented this information from spreading.
The reason?
Simple.
The high and mighty didn't want the birth of a 'second' Baltar.
They didn't want any more uncontrollable superhumans.
For this same reason, his extraordinary martial prowess also remained largely unknown.
Of course, someone might have blabbed about Ihan's extraordinariness while drunk or as a joke, but surprisingly....
-He beats knights without having learned aura techniques? ...What nonsense?
-Is he from a fallen noble family? Or a descendant of a destroyed kingdom? None of that? Just a commoner birth? Then he must have become a knight through cowardly means.
-A knight who subdued all the knights of prestigious families, haha, what an entertaining subject. It would be quite fun to sell to a bard.
Thus, no matter how much they spread stories about Ihan, there was no one who believed them.
Think about it.
Someone without noble blood, who doesn't even know aura techniques, being strong enough to fight aura users—does that make any sense?
That was the reason why there were extremely few people who believed it no matter who he told.
As a result, rumors about Ihan were deemed false, and naturally, his reputation was buried.
If Ihan had struggled to gain fame and was a knight with ambitions for success, the story might have been different.
For example, even now, he could visit renowned swordsmanship families and request spars, proving it before the public.
Just as a martial artist gains fame through jousting and swordsmanship tournaments.
However.
'Why would I do that?'
Ihan had no desire to become a spectacle, nor any ambition to gain fame and power.
If he had a wish, it would be to gain martial power that no one could oppress him with.
In other words, he felt it was more efficient to spend the time he would use gaining fame on efforts to become the 'real deal.'
Of course, this was merely his personal value system, not something to force upon others.
...Well, because of that.
"Truly a beggar-like value system."
"...We call this kind of thing romance."
"Does romance feed you?"
"......Umm."
It was a story someone might not be able to accept.
Ihan, who had unintentionally become a hidden powerhouse, smiled bitterly, and Isis could only frown in displeasure.
* * *
He was aware that he had caused a major incident.
He was a bit annoyed, which may have made him cause an even bigger incident.
However.
"If I hadn't done that, how lightly would they have taken me? If I appear easy, it would become harder for me to probe the surveillance targets I need to approach."
"……."
"Still, I admit I went a bit overboard. So please stop being angry."
Ihan tried his best to soothe Isis's mood.
Normally he wouldn't go this far, but she was his patron, after all.
...She even brought ambrosia of 2% purity.
Seeing this, Ihan tried to accommodate her to some extent, but it wasn't easily resolved.
'Wait, I'm the one getting insulted, so why is this lady acting like this?'
While he was quietly sensing something strange, she beat her chest as if frustrated.
"Do you think I am angry because of that?"
"...Pardon?"
A sharply cold voice shot out.
Ihan wondered what she was suddenly talking about.
"There are two reasons I am angry. One is that someone who isn't even a Count, merely a Count's second son, insulted my sworn brother. The other is the contempt I feel toward the filthy press who would brand my sworn brother as a violent person without even looking into the circumstances! Plague-ridden wretches more base than disease—!"
"......Umm."
It was an extremely aristocratic way of speaking, and for a commoner-born listener, it was a bit uncomfortable, but since she was defending him, it didn't sound entirely bad either.
What's gotten into this sister of mine?
"Hmph, for my person to be insulted means I myself am insulted. To overlook this would be a humiliation for the royal family! How could I not be angry?"
"...Ah, so that's what it was?"
I see, she wasn't angry because I was insulted, but because her own prestige was diminished.
...Figures.
Ihan nodded as if he had expected as much and decided to make some corrections.
"Let me correct two things in what you said. One is that others don't know you and I have a relationship, and the other is that I'm not your person. Anyway, you're not the one being insulted, so stop being angry. You're making me scared."
"...Insolent thing."
"Where else would you find a humble guy like me?"
"……."
"Stop glaring at me."
If she could shoot daggers with her eyes, she would have done so dozens of times by now.
That was how intense and murderous her gaze was.
How long did that last?
Suddenly, she.
"What do you wish me to do with the Count?"
"…?"
"If you wish, I will kill him. Or I could strip him of his position. Tell me what you desire."
"...What kind of bullshit is that?"
"This is not nonsense."
A frosty, cold aura burst from her eyes.
"You are in the middle of carrying out my 'request.' Yet for noise to arise already is unacceptable. I am currently deeply displeased and wish to resolve this quickly."
"……."
Because her heart was displeased, she wished for this displeasure to be resolved quickly.
Power and strength, honor and authority.
This was a statement only possible because she was closest to the pinnacle of all these things.
And now, if Ihan were to ask for help, everything would be fulfilled.
It was as if he had just gained the right to wield a demonic sword.
Therefore.
"Now, drink some water and come to your senses. Your eyes have flipped right now, sister."
"...I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"I'm not in the mood for jokes either. So let me speak seriously. Just stay still. Don't go needlessly disrupting the ecosystem."
"...Am I a hindrance?"
"Yes."
"......You brazen bastard."
Resolute and knife-sharp words.
She反而 felt her anger disappearing because of such resoluteness.
This insolent sworn brother...!
"You said it yourself, sister, that you'd leave everything entirely to me? Then that's that. I've made enemies with the Count's family because of this incident? Then we're enemies. If they pick a fight again, I just fight, and if I'm outmatched, I just run, that's all."
"...You will?"
"Though I'll probably run around destroying everything related to the Count's family while I'm at it."
"……."
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...How could I not be dumbfounded when you boldly declare before me that you'll erase a royalist family."
"Ah, that guy was a royalist? Well, knight family folks are all royalist affiliated."
He recalled that the Count he met the previous day was a knight who had reached a considerable level.
"...You didn't even know that?"
"Because I wasn't interested. Well, anyway, I've made my position clear enough. So just stay still."
"......Huu."
Isis always felt like she was being dragged along whenever she talked with him.
Was it because she made him her sworn brother, or was it that she was strangely soft toward him?
Whatever it was, truly.
'What an amusing fellow.'
A being who became an unexpected vitality in her boring life.
Isis smirked, perhaps inwardly pleased by him playing outside her control.
"-Fine. Since you spoke so insolently, I have no more room to interfere. I will not intervene anymore."
However.
"If you consider someone an enemy, sever their breath completely. This sister has never let an enemy live even once. If you are my brother, you should show at least that much boldness."
"We call that the hegemon's path."
"The king's path is naturally the hegemon's path."
"...I always think this, but you're the most dangerous one."
"Hoho, what a pleasant thing to say."
Smack.
She hit his head with her fan once again, and at some point.
Silently.
"See you next time."
As if melting into the sunlight, Isis vanished in an instant.
All that proved she had been there was a puddle thoroughly soaking the floor.
"...She's the very definition of a mastermind."
"I'll clean it up!"
"...Maid, staying still would be helping me."
"Huh?"
"......Just clean it up."
"Yes!!"
Making an innocent-minded kid understand is quite a difficult task.
How do I know?
...I didn't want to know either. But hanging around this maid, I ended up learning.
"...Old man, you don't disappear like that?"
"Hoho, why would an old man like me waste the mysteries of magic?"
"Isn't it just that you don't need magic?"
"Hoho."
...Figured as much.
Ihan shook his head as he cleaned up the puddle, watching the maid who fell and was about to cry, and the butler who disappeared stealthily as if melting into the shadows.
He probably shouldn't be the one to say this, but the more he looked.
'If I'm the demonic path, those people are the demonic cult, the demonic cult.'
For some reason, the royal family seemed to have no one but people more bizarre than him, who had been subjected to human experiments.